Commuting to work on my bicycle and I love it!
In late December, my employer finished shifting our office from Suntec City to a new office building near Kallang. That meant my journey on the MRT becomes longer and rides will be more expensive in order to get to my new office. I wasn’t too happy about that so I decided to find out if there is other alternatives for a shorter or cost-effective commute.
After checking Google Maps, I found that the new office is located pretty close to the Kallang Park Connector Network (PCN). Using the Kallang PCN, it seems that apart from a few road crossings and overhead bridges, it is possible to commute to work on my bicycle.
As I have done a bicycle tour overseas a few years ago, I dug up all the equipment that I stored away after the trip and picked the ones that I needed.
Here’s a list of equipment that I needed for my bicycle commute:
- A waterproof pannier bag that stores my work clothes, shoes and toiletries (fortunately my office has shower facilities)
- A carry system accessory that converts my pannier bag into a backpack so that I can carry it into the office
- Eagle Creek Pack-It folder which allows me to fold my work clothes neatly for storage with little crease
- North Face packable rain jacket in case of rain
- Cycling helmet
- Front and rear lights on my bicycle
Not exactly a big list because I try to keep everything simple. One can always deck out the bicycle with more gadgets to make the journey enjoyable. In my case, I installed a mobile phone holder on my bicycle’s handlebar so that I can use my mobile phone for navigation and to play music with the Spotify app.
Here’s how everything looks like on my bicycle. I chose to use my Dahon foldable bicycle so that if I get a puncture tire or encounter a heavy downpour, I can always hail a taxi to continue the rest of the journey with everything in the boot.
I did a trial ride to my workplace on a weekend and it took around 30 minutes to cycle from my home to the office using the Kallang PCN. The journey on the train takes roughly the same amount of time and costs me $1.33 per trip. That works out to $53.20 per month in savings. While it’s not a big saving, I enjoy the health benefits that comes with each ride. I also feel more refreshed if I exercise before starting my workday.
My plan is to cycle to work every day unless I have dinner appointments after work. Let’s hope that I can maintain this habit. Fingers crossed!
